Merida Scultura Disc 200 2019

The Merida Scultura Disc 200 may look like it is an entry-level machine on paper but the frame and fork are absolutely top notch and massively upgradable. It's yet another example of just how good alloy frames are right now, offering a very comfortable ride and plenty of stiffness to boot.

• Pros: Excellent ride quality from the frame, easy-to-live-with handling
• Cons: Average brakes, limited tyre clearance, feels weighty

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Ride

The Scultura Lite-BSA Disc frame has a very enjoyable ride feel; there is no harshness or irritating amounts of road buzz coming through to your contact points, even with the 25mm tyres pumped up to my preferred high pressures. This makes the Scultura a fun bike to ride and you can really cover some miles tapping away on the pedals while taking in the scenery. Well, if your route is relatively flat that is.

Its overall 9.96kg (21.95lb) weight is quite noticeable, and if you are out in rolling terrain or find yourself in town keeping up with the ebb and flow of urban traffic, the extra effort required can tire you prematurely.

It's more the long, steady slopes that can take their toll, as you don't realise you are working that little bit harder than you normally would on a bike a couple of kilos lighter, as the climb drags on.

Everywhere else, though, the Merida is a pleasurable place to be.

The handling is pleasingly neutral, which is reassuring for those new to road riding – the Scultura is, after all, priced at £900, which places it nicely in that 'first proper road bike' category.

That weight that hampers the Merida on the way up benefits it when descending, and you can really pick up some decent amounts of speed. Steering through the corners is reasonably tight and the Scultura CF2 disc fork gives plenty of feedback about what the front wheel is up to.

It was only in the most technical sections that I found the Scultura wanting – the handling could just do with being a little bit quicker to be able to flick the bike from left to right for a tight chicane. This would then make the bike twitchier elsewhere, though, taking away that predictability that less confident riders will prefer.

These points about the weight and handling may make it sound like I have a bit of a downer on the Scultura 200, but I really haven't. Its comfort levels and easy riding style easily overshadow the downsides.

Frame and fork

The Lite frame is made from 6066 grade aluminium alloy and the tubing is triple butted. This means that along their length the tubes have three different wall thicknesses to control the ride quality and drop a little bit of weight. A tube doesn't need to be as stiff in the centre as it does at the ends, where it has to deal with the welding process and cope with the stresses and loads of the rider, so the middle section can be thinner, promoting a little bit of flex for added comfort.

The frame shows impressive stiffness too, most notably thanks to that massive down tube paired to the oversized, tapered head tube.

The down tube is wide and rectangular which offers a large weld area as it meets the bottom bracket shell. It's a standard threaded BB as well.

The chainstays are fairly chunky as they leave the junction to keep that rear wheel in check.

Quality-wise, the frame and fork are very impressive. I'm a fan of the bold red paintjob and thanks to the smoothness of the welds it looks like a much more expensive bike than it actually is.

As is pretty much the norm these days, the Scultura has internal cable routing – for the front end of the frame anyway, as the three cables all enter the down tube before exposing themselves under the bottom bracket shell.

One thing that might put some of you off is the fact that the Merida can only take a maximum of 25mm wide tyres. Clearance is tight between the chainstays and the standard rims aren't that wide compared to some on the market, so if you were to upgrade to a set of wheels with a wide rim and stretch out the 25mm tyres by a couple of millimetres they could become very close.

The CF2 fork has a 1 1/8in to a 1 1/2in tapered steerer to mimic the head tube, and also has internal routing for the brake cable.

As expected, both the frame and fork use 12mm thru-axles for wheel retention.

The Scultura is available in seven sizes from XXS to XXL, which is a decent spread, and the overall geometry sits somewhere between a race bike and that of an endurance machine so you can get a good balance of an aero position without needing to be massively flexible.

Finishing kit

For the gear shifting and braking the Scultura 200 comes with Shimano Sora levers plus front and rear mech. It has pretty much the same design and functionality as the more expensive Tiagra but with one less sprocket at the rear: Sora is 9-speed.

Shifting is very good. It's a little heavier and less defined than the latest versions of 105 or Ultegra, but not massively so, and for the money you can't really knock it.

Merida has specced an 11-28 (11,12,13,14,16,18,21,24,28) cassette, which is pretty standard for road bikes. True, the weight of the bike could warrant something like a 32-tooth largest sprocket but that would increase the gaps between the gears which, as they stand, already have a fair bit of room between them.

Being used to riding pretty much solely 11-speed these days, I found getting a comfortable cadence difficult sometimes, seeming to be between gears at times. Riders coming straight to a 9-speed system should be fine, though.

The crankset is from FSA, its Omega model, and Merida has sensibly gone for a compact 50/34 setup. Shifting is pretty crisp across the two rings and I had no issue with mis-shifts even when changing under load.

When it comes to the braking, the Scultura 200 uses Promax Decode R callipers paired to the same company's G160 rotors.

They are cable operated and decidedly average in performance, although I have used some that are much worse. Overall power is okay for slowing you down but I had to get onto the brakes earlier than I would with hydraulic systems if I needed to stop, especially as the speed increases.

I'm still a massive fan of rim brakes and jumping back on my B'Twin with 105 callipers highlighted just how much more powerful they are compared to the discs on the 200.

If discs aren't the be all and end all for you then the Scultura 300 makes more sense in my mind, coming with a Tiagra groupset and Merida dual pivot brakes. It'll save you 50 quid and nearly a kilo in weight.

The rest of the finishing kit comes from Merida and it is exactly what you'd expect on a bike of this price. It all looks smart enough and provides plenty of stiffness from the handlebar and stem.

A special mention goes to the Merida Comp SL saddle. The padding for me was spot on: enough to take the sting out without being too squidgy and I could spend hours on it.

Wheels and tyres

The Comp Disc own brand wheels stayed true throughout testing and although heavy they roll decently enough.

Stiffness was okay. I could get some sideways flex when really hammering it and in the long term I'd definitely be thinking of an upgrade. For starters, though, they do the job and seem durable.

The tyres are Maxxis Dolomites and, again, their performance is decent enough, shrugging off punctures on the thorn-covered back lanes.

Rolling resistance was surprisingly minimal so when on the flat you can whizz along, although the hard rubber compound isn't the most grippy when cornering quickly and deadens the road feel somewhat.

Value

Taking into account the balance between components, frame quality and weight, the Scultura 200 Disc doesn't look too bad.

Cannondale's Synapse Disc Sora is a more endurance-based option than the Scultura, having slightly more relaxed geometry and the ability to take mudguards and a rack. The thing that does tie them together is that they are both based around a great alloy frame while hampered by heavy wheels and iffy brakes. The Cannondale costs a bit less at £849 but weighs 11.07kg.

For an extra £99 over the Merida you could go for the Merlin ROC Disc. The Scultura has the better ride quality thanks to its frame, but the biggest benefit of the Merlin is that you are getting a full Shimano 105 hydraulic groupset for similar money.

> Buyer's Guide: 14 of the best road bikes for under £1,000

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So, while the Scultura doesn't fair quite so well on paper, I'd still take it over both of those bikes purely down to how good a frame you are getting.

It's much more upgradable, and if it is your first road bike you won't be having to being buying a replacement by the end of the season as you have improved as a rider. Some new wheels, and look into improving the brakes, and you'll be left with a lighter and much more responsive machine.

Verdict

An excellent frameset with a comfortable ride that could do with a few component tweaks